"Early Bids" by One Dartmouth Local Sorority

[jenidallas]

Originally Posted by naraht

I read the

"The sisters of EK Colony had received consultants before, and were usually able to squelch fraternizing and imbibing for long enough to accommodate them. "

and went "This is part of your justification as to why you left KATh?

Yep. But I understand they had a lot of other renegade stuff going on too. Example... my friend did a semester abroad when she would have normally pledged her sophomore year. So rather than going through (then) rush and pledging/initiating, she was offered a bid by two other KATh's who were in her study abroad program. She said she "skipped" normal pledging and that they performed her initiation ceremony for her over there. I remember asking her if she went through it again back home and her response was "no, we didn't believe in doing all that formal mumbo jumbo".

That certainly seems like blatant disregard for ritual to me.

It amazes me that still call themselves "Thetas". The alums from that era that I've met explain it as "I'm a Theta... used to be a Kappa Alpha Theta but I was a Theta first and I'm still a Theta."

I would find that SO annoying if I were a KATh.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

And not very well written.

One would expect better writing from Ivy Leaguers.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by jenidallas

Yep. But I understand they had a lot of other renegade stuff going on too. Example... my friend did a semester abroad when she would have normally pledged her sophomore year. So rather than going through (then) rush and pledging/initiating, she was offered a bid by two other KATh's who were in her study abroad program. She said she "skipped" normal pledging and that they performed her initiation ceremony for her over there. I remember asking her if she went through it again back home and her response was "no, we didn't believe in doing all that formal mumbo jumbo".

Goodness gracious, loose lips sink ships.

[jenidallas]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Goodness gracious, loose lips sink ships.

As I posted above... this was in 1992 (when all this went down). I think that ship has already sunk.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by jenidallas

As I posted above... this was in 1992 (when all this went down). I think that ship has already sunk.

The ship has sunk but it hasn't disappeared. There are three loose lips:

1) The Kappa Alpha Thetas who allegedly bid and initiated her overseas. That is perhaps one reason the chapter was rogue.
2) Your friend for telling you the story.
3) You for repeating that story even 19 years later. Is your friend officially a member of Kappa Alpha Theta or not?

[jenidallas]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

The ship has sunk but it hasn't disappeared. There are three loose lips:

1) The Kappa Alpha Thetas who allegedly bid and initiated her overseas. That is perhaps one reason the chapter was rogue.
2) Your friend for telling you the story.
3) You for repeating that story even 19 years later. Is your friend officially a member of Kappa Alpha Theta or not?

Definitely not anymore. And that was my point... they had a blatant disregard for what it meant to be in an NPC organization and were doing their own thing. They are pretty upfront about voluntarily discussing it too.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by jenidallas

Definitely not anymore.

Not anymore or not ever?

Originally Posted by jenidallas

...they had a blatant disregard for what it meant to be in an NPC organization and were doing their own thing. They are pretty upfront about voluntarily discussing it too.

That much is obvious.

[exlurker]

Update -- story from Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 newspaper site

This article gives a few more details (not many, and nothing about the exact number of bids offered / bids accepted):

http://thedartmouth.com/2011/09/23/news/rush

[jenidallas]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Not anymore or not ever?

If I am to believe her version, "not anymore". She graduated in 1992 so it would have been prior to that.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by naraht

Somehow not being part of Kappa Alpha Theta because they didn't want to have to hide their booze just doesn't rise to the same level.

As I've stated, things were a LOT different back in the 80s. I went to a chapter colonization where alcohol was bought, and served to underage women, with national officers in the room. Whether they didn't realize they were in Pennsylutah and our drinking age was 21, I don't know, but I doubt it. I'm betting that the Dartmouth colony began in a similar manner, and then when things started cracking down, the collegians had an immense problem with the hypocrisy and script-flipping of it. As they should, as MANY of us who went to college in the 80s did. The heads that had been looking the other way for a LOOOONG time were suddenly three feet up your ass.

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

No, it just greases the wheels for all chapters on that campus to view affiliation with nationals as something that's optional, fluid, and even reversible. This is something unique to Dartmouth that sits alongside the universal Ivy League perspective that they don't need the national credential for networking purposes, as the university and the chapter will provide all the inter/national connections they need. That's pretty widespread even on campuses where there's little to no history of locals (like Penn).

I completely agree. And I don't think it's unique to Ivy League schools either. I think a lot of it depends on how cohesive and friendly the Greek system is. If you have friends in all the groups and you all party together, you're going to feel like this - but if the system is full of backbiting and trash talking and a very rigid social structure (as in ZXY sorority JUST DOES NOT go to ABC fraternity parties because that's PQR's domain and PQR is higher in the pecking order) you're probably going to develop a much deeper feeling for your chapter and your sorority on a national level than for your school.

Originally Posted by jenidallas

Yep. But I understand they had a lot of other renegade stuff going on too. Example... my friend did a semester abroad when she would have normally pledged her sophomore year. So rather than going through (then) rush and pledging/initiating, she was offered a bid by two other KATh's who were in her study abroad program. She said she "skipped" normal pledging and that they performed her initiation ceremony for her over there. I remember asking her if she went through it again back home and her response was "no, we didn't believe in doing all that formal mumbo jumbo".

That certainly seems like blatant disregard for ritual to me.

It amazes me that still call themselves "Thetas". The alums from that era that I've met explain it as "I'm a Theta... used to be a Kappa Alpha Theta but I was a Theta first and I'm still a Theta."

I would find that SO annoying if I were a KATh.

There are most likely many other chapters out there who also don't believe in all that "formal mumbo jumbo" and only do it when national officers are around. Give these girls credit for finally saying, as they state on their website, that they should either be all in or all out.

As far as going by "Theta" - at some campuses Theta Phi Alpha call themselves Thetas. Not to mention the local sororities out there that do the same. KAT doesn't own that nickname or any rights to be indignant if other groups use it. If you could do that, there would be many Alpha Phi Alpha members who would be going to some of our chapters and kicking butt. Not only that, sometimes you just end up being what the campus calls you. We could say "Alpha Sig" till we were blue in the face and people still said ASA.

[Amy Kates]

As far as going by "Theta" - at some campuses Theta Phi Alpha call themselves Thetas. Not to mention the local sororities out there that do the same. KAT doesn't own that nickname or any rights to be indignant if other groups use it. If you could do that, there would be many Alpha Phi Alpha members who would be going to some of our chapters and kicking butt. Not only that, sometimes you just end up being what the campus calls you. We could say "Alpha Sig" till we were blue in the face and people still said ASA.[/QUOTE]

The words "Kappa Alpha Theta" and "Theta," our Greek letters, and the coat of arms are registered trademarks of Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Amy Kates

The words "Kappa Alpha Theta" and "Theta," our Greek letters, and the coat of arms are registered trademarks of Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity.

The cool thing is that I Google "Theta" and the Kappa Alpha Theta website is the first result.

Thus is the difference between what happens nationally/internationally versus what happens in some areas. Theta Phi Alphas who know what's going on outside of campus know that they are not nationally/internationally called "Thetas."

[ElieM]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

The cool thing is that I Google "Theta" and the Kappa Alpha Theta website is the first result.

When I google "Theta" - Kappa Alpha Theta is the 7th result, after;
www.theta.org.za ; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta ; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_rhythm ; www.investopedia.com ; www.thetadigital.com/ ; www.thetahealing.com/

There are also a few different registrations for 'Theta' as a trademark. Kappa Alpha Theta only has it registered for assoted clothing, and assorted stationery items

The random things you find out when prompted to google stuff on a forum...

[DrPhil]

My Google is better than your Google. The top two results for Theta are:

1. www.kappaalphatheta.org/

2. The eighth letter of the Greek alphabet on wikipedia.

[IrishLake]

(I really kinda find it awesome that our National President comments on GC, just sayin...)